Chapter 155: The Shattering of a Myth
The Moon Celestial still found it somewhat hard to believe. Ling Celestial was standing right before her, alive and real. She wanted to smile, but when the smile appeared, tears also fell.
How many years had it been?
How many years had she been without this old friend?
Their friendship had begun in the early years of the Dragon Han Era. They had fought together through the Three Heavens War of that era, struggling and striving, back-to-back, bathed in blood.
In the final years of Dragon Han, they had both fallen into despair. Then, in the final years of Chi Ming, seeing the decline and extinction of the human race, they resolved to emerge once more and do something for humanity.
It was these two women who had jointly founded the Sovereign Era!
When the Earth Mother Primordial Sovereign gathered the demigods of the world, ruling and enslaving all humanity, dominating the Primordial Realm, it was these two women who stood up to oppose the Earth Mother. They supported the Southern Sovereign Heaven Court, establishing a glorious era that lasted three hundred thousand years, spanning fifteen dynasties of Sovereign Heavenly Emperors!
The hardships they endured while supporting each other were not for outsiders to know. The true feelings and bitterness were understood only by themselves.
Ling Celestial was the most aloof. She had devoted almost her entire being to researching the Unchanging Divine Ability. In the Dao of Creation, her achievements were unparalleled. The mysteries of the Unchanging Divine Ability were built upon the foundation of the Creation Divine Ability, requiring her to pour all her heart and blood into its study.
Yet, it was she who, witnessing the misery of humanity after the fall of the Chi Sovereign Era, resolved to re-emerge.
When the Chi Ming Era was destroyed, the Primordial Realm fell into chaos. The Earth Mother Primordial Sovereign rose, reviving the barbaric rule of the ancient gods, replacing civilization with blood sacrifices. The weakened human race became the best offerings.
At one moment, they were enslaved; at the next, they were sacrificial victims. That era could be called the darkest period for humanity in the Primordial Realm.
It was she who found the Moon Celestial and asked her to emerge once more.
Beneath her cold and stern exterior was a fiery heart, unable to bear seeing her own people continue to struggle in suffering.
As for the Moon Celestial, after Cloud Celestial died, she was utterly disheartened and went into seclusion, originally intending never to reappear. But Ling Celestial's arrival made this woman resolutely break her own promise and emerge once more!
Ling Celestial was not actually suited for participating in the struggles for power. Throughout the long Sovereign Era, it was mostly the Moon Celestial who managed everything, supporting the Southern Sovereign Heaven Court and contending with the Earth Mother Primordial Sovereign of the Northern Sovereign Heaven Court.
Without the Moon Celestial, Ling Celestial would have found it very difficult to succeed.
Without Ling Celestial, the Moon Celestial would not have had enough courage to carry on. Ling Celestial was her support, her backbone.
Ling Celestial was strong and resolute; the Moon Celestial was gentle and tender. They supported each other, making the three hundred thousand years of the Sovereign Era the most brilliant and dazzling star in history!
Though there were many extraordinary women in the world, they were the legends among legends!
Ling Celestial also remembered the battle to eradicate the Earth Mother. The Moon Celestial had fallen into danger while protecting her, severely wounded by Fire Celestial, Hao Celestial, and Xiao Celestial.
She remembered that after that, the Moon Celestial no longer showed herself. The Dao injury had plagued her, long and difficult to heal.
They had supported each other, and no one dared to touch the Southern Sovereign. But after the Moon Celestial was afflicted by the Dao injury, the Celestials of the Heavenly Court began to stir restlessly. Finally, when her Unchanging Divine Ability was perfected, they struck her down without mercy!
Her physical body, along with the Heavenly Emperor's, was trapped within the Unchanging Divine Ability. The two pillars of the Sovereign Era collapsed.
The Sovereign Heavenly Court was destroyed. A glorious era crumbled and turned into ruins.
Now, these two women who had supported the brilliant three-hundred-thousand-year Sovereign Era, separated for forty thousand years, were reunited at the source of the Surging River.
They looked at each other. Time had left no trace on them; they were still as peerlessly elegant as ever.
They had so much to say to each other, yet for a moment, they didn't know where to begin.
There were many heroes and champions in this world, but those who achieved what these two women had achieved were few and far between.
The wind blew across the Surging River. The cold, lonely wind from the Great Firmament blew the sunlight above the river like golden dust, painting beautiful sand paintings in the sky.
In the Great Firmament, the Sword Dao Great Firmament and the Divine Awareness Great Firmament collided violently, making the Ultimate Void clearly visible. A magnificent golden ship, two towering Dao trees, Dao flowers bursting with billions of sword lights, and Dao fruits emitting enchanting Dao radiance—all crashed together, fierce and mesmerizing!
At this moment, almost everyone in the Great Firmament had unleashed their most powerful means!
The Sword Dao Great Firmament of the Kai Sovereign itself was a thirty-six-fold sword domain. The light emitted by the Sword Dao at this moment made even the sun seem dim!
The Lingxiao Hall of the Xiao Celestial, the highest inheritance from a prehistoric universe, was a symbol of power and authority. Along with the thirty-six Heavenly Palaces and forty-seven Precious Halls, it harnessed the Primordial Beginning Dao. His strike made even the Ultimate Void tremble!
The Ten Thousand Dao Wheel of the Hao Celestial condensed, transforming into the Ten Thousand Dao Heavenly Wheel. Within this wheel, the Purple Firmament Hall rotated. This hall, from the Jade Capital City of the Ancestral Court, was the physical manifestation of the lifelong art of the Fourth Young Master of the Miluo Palace!
On the rotating Purple Firmament Hall, countless magnificent runes were reflected, falling upon the Ten Thousand Dao Heavenly Wheel. The wheel spun, revealing both its front and back sides.
The front of the Ten Thousand Dao Heavenly Wheel was the Primordial Beginning Dao, condensed from the power of the thirty-six Heavenly Palaces. The back of the wheel, however, was boundless darkness.
Where the darkness fell, it was occasionally illuminated by the Kai Sovereign's sword light. There were another thirty-six Heavenly Palaces, hidden within the darkness. The Dark Ten Thousand Dao Heavenly Wheel was like a massive Guixu, filled with a world-destroying destructive power!
The Hao Celestial possessed two Heavenly Courts.
In fact, Qin Mu had already discovered this in the Taixu Land.
When the Tai Emperor's physical body was resurrected to block the Hao Celestial, in that battle, the Hao Celestial had used two different Heavenly Court techniques. One was primarily based on the Primordial One Qi, derived from the Primordial Beginning Dao, and the other was based on the Guixu Dao.
In that battle, the Tai Emperor's physical body was crippled, and the Hao Celestial was also severely injured.
Now, with the support of the Purple Firmament Hall, the Hao Celestial had nearly perfectly unified the two Heavenly Court techniques!
The strength he displayed was supreme, even surpassing that of the Xiao Celestial!
Another variable on the golden ship was Qin Mu.
At this moment, Qin Mu drew his sword.
The sword was the Calamity Sword.
As soon as the Calamity Sword was drawn, its light was not as grand and majestic as the Kai Sovereign's Sword Dao, nor was its power as great as the Xiao Celestial's or the Hao Celestial's, yet it forced the Tai Emperor to take it seriously.
This was because Qin Mu's Calamity Sword seemed to be specifically targeting his weaknesses!
His sword did not stab at the Heavenly Emperor's physical body or attack the Tai Emperor's divine awareness. Instead, each strike accurately pierced the Dao fruit on the Dao tree.
Qin Mu seemed to have studied the Tai Emperor's techniques for a million years, familiar with every change in his techniques and divine abilities, and clearly understood the flaws and shortcomings of his Dao.
This strike was the Calamity-Breaking Sword, specifically designed to break Dao. Even the Dao fruit was scarred under the attack of the Calamity Sword!
This strike of Qin Mu's came from the teachings of Cloud Celestial.
Cloud Celestial had thoroughly studied the Tai Emperor's Dao techniques and even supplemented his shortcomings. The one who understood the Tai Emperor best was not the Tai Emperor himself, nor the Xiao Celestial, his old rival, but Cloud Celestial.
After communicating with Cloud Celestial, Qin Mu entered Dao through dreams, and what he studied was the Tai Emperor's weaknesses.
In this battle, Qin Mu represented not himself, but the achievements of Cloud Celestial, suppressed for a million years!
He wanted to vindicate Cloud Celestial, to let the Tai Emperor know that the reason he had been able to defeat Cloud Celestial was only due to his own accumulation of six billion years!
The splendor of this battle was clearly visible to the entire Primordial Realm. In the myriad realms and heavens of the Primordial Realm, gods and demons alike raised their heads, gazing at this scene in the untouchable high sky, their expressions filled with infatuation and shock.
In Yenkang, the Yanxiu Emperor Ling Yuxiu of the Supreme Capital led the civil and military officials out of the court, looking up.
They did not know who was fighting, nor for whom they were fighting.
The golden ship crossed the sky. The battle was brutal and spectacular, giving the soldiers of the Carefree Village's thirty-three heavens, who were being hunted down by the Heavenly Court's army, a rare moment of rest. They tidied their blood-stained armor and washed the blood off their divine weapons.
They wiped the blood and tears from their faces. As they bid farewell to their fallen comrades, they also saw that scene in the Ultimate Void.
Some were numb, some were hopeful, and some were fired up by this battle!
Gradually, cheers arose. Courage and strength were born in their hearts!
They recognized the Kai Sovereign's sword light. They recognized the Kai Sovereign's Dao.
Their leader was still fighting, never abandoning them. They had endured countless hardships, battles, and struggles along this path. They had known despair, surrender, and even thoughts of giving up.
Until they saw the sword light shining through from the Ultimate Void!
In the Ultimate Void, on the Great Firmament, the battle, though fierce, was brief and hasty.
The Kai Sovereign's sword pierced the Heavenly Emperor's physical body, entering through the glabella. The Sword Dao was like a waterfall, pouring into the body through the wound at the glabella. The sword light almost formed a Sword Dao Dao tree within the physical body!
In terms of power, he was inferior to both the Xiao Celestial and the Hao Celestial, but in terms of offensive power, he was still number one in the world!
Yet, the next moment, the dazzling Dao light emitted by the Divine Awareness Dao fruit on the Divine Awareness Dao tree pierced through his chest. Countless beams of light, like spears, penetrated his body, causing his Dao flower to wither!
On the other side, the Hao Celestial's Ten Thousand Dao Heavenly Wheel cycled forward and backward, spinning with a roar, transforming into a series of great seals. It forcibly passed through the attacks of the Divine Awareness Dao tree's branches and leaves, imprinting itself on the tree.
The Primordial Beginning Dao and the Guixu Dao erupted simultaneously. On the branches and leaves of the Divine Awareness Dao tree, the marks of his Ten Thousand Dao Heavenly Wheel appeared everywhere.
The marks transformed into divine abilities. The next moment, they exploded, shattering countless branches and leaves, sending them flying!
However, at the same time, the Tai Emperor's finger pierced through his forehead. An incredibly terrifying force erupted, and a large hole burst open at the back of the Hao Celestial's head. Brain matter splattered, coating the Purple Firmament Hall behind him!
The Xiao Celestial attacked the Tai Emperor's Divine Awareness Dao fruit. The power of the Lingxiao Hall supported him, allowing him to gather Qi and Dao, forming an Imperial Sword. With one slash, he struck the Dao fruit!
He was determined to sever the Tai Emperor's Dao fruit, forcibly cutting away an entire major realm!
His swordsmanship was inferior to the Kai Sovereign's and Qin Mu's, but as the Heavenly Emperor, who had shaken the world for a million years, his sword was filled with dominance and authority. As the sword fell, the Dao fruit actually detached from the tree!
A flicker of joy passed through the Xiao Celestial's heart, but it was immediately replaced by a look of horror and terror.
He saw something he could hardly believe.
“My companion treasure!”
He had just let out this roar when a sword light shot out from the Dao fruit, piercing him. The Xiao Celestial flew backward with a whoosh, nailed to the eaves of a great hall on the golden ship.
At the same time, Qin Mu's Calamity Sword struck the Tai Emperor's Dao fruit. The sword light flickered, becoming incredibly fine, and wrapped around the Dao fruit with a shushing sound.
The azure Dao fruit was unable to withstand his sword light. The Dao patterns and Dao chains on the fruit's surface rapidly disintegrated, and the fruit itself shrank quickly.
Slap!
The Tai Emperor punched out. Qin Mu's entire body exploded, turning into dust along with his Spirit Embryo Divine Treasury domain!
The Tai Emperor stood on the golden ship, shaking the blood from his hand, and stood with his hands behind his back.
The Tai Su Goddess knocked on the Tai Bell outside the ship. The bell's sound rippled, and then a branch of the Dao tree pierced through her glabella.
The Tai Su Goddess exploded, turning into Tai Su Qi that scurried around within the Divine Awareness Great Firmament, shrieking, “Tai Emperor, you cannot kill me!”
The Tai Emperor paid her no mind. Looking at the people on the ship who were no longer able to fight, he felt a little desolate. “A million years, and you are still so pathetic. It seems that even today, I am still the invincible myth…”
Qin Mu restored his physical body, reassembled his Spirit Embryo and Divine Treasuries, and panted heavily.
The Kai Sovereign was covered in blood, struggling to stand and not fall.
The Xiao Celestial was nailed under the eaves of the hall, looking at the large hole in his chest. Primordial Beginning Qi permeated the wound. His face was ashen.
The Hao Celestial lay supine on the deck, his eyes vacant. The phantom of the Purple Firmament Hall behind his head flickered between light and darkness. The large hole in the back of his head was still oozing hot brain matter.
Qin Mu looked around, grinned, his teeth stained with blood.
“Juyu Clan.” A cold, clear voice came from behind the Tai Emperor.
The Tai Emperor whirled around. Ling Celestial appeared before him, one finger gently touching his glabella.
The corner of the Tai Emperor's eye twitched violently.
—Well, let's ask for some monthly votes for the Tai Emperor, and see him off on his way. After all, Sister Ling has made her move.